Investors rushed into stocks for the second consecutive session on Tuesday, as another wave of bargain hunting led to another day of substantial gains. The S&P 500 jumped more than 3% amid speculation that the Federal Reserve had reached peak hawkishness.
Cruise stocks were among the big winners on the session. Within the interest rate-sensitive sector, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH), Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Carnival (CCL) all scored double-digit percentage gains.
Meanwhile, the broad market rally also allowed First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) to build on its recent gains. The stock expanded an upswing that began in July, with shares reaching a new 52-week high.
Some stocks stood out on Tuesday thanks to stock-specific news. This included Twitter (TWTR), which surged on the latest development in its ongoing soap opera with Tesla (TSLA) chief Elon Musk.
Among the few notable decliners on the session, KalVista (KALV) lost more than half its value after safety concerns forced it to stop a mid-stage clinical trial.
Sector In Focus
Hope that the Federal Reserve would soon ease off its campaign to drive interest rates higher sparked buying in the overall stock market. Cruise stocks were among the high-profile beneficiaries of this upswing, with the three major public players in the space all experiencing double-digit percentage gains.
Cruise stocks are seen as heavily leveraged to interest rates because they rely on debt financing, especially since the onset of the pandemic. On Tuesday, data about the labor market and signals from overseas central banks prompted optimism that the Fed will not have to increase rates as sharply as it had previously expected.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) and Royal Caribbean (RCL) each jumped nearly 17% in the day's rally. Carnival (CCL) climbed 13%.
Standout Gainer
Twitter (TWTR) soared during Tuesday's session on news that Tesla (TSLA) boss Elon Musk has sent a letter proposing to complete his original $44B takeover deal for the social media giant.
TWTR jumped shortly after noon following a Bloomberg report that Musk had proposed closing his deal to acquire the company, which the billionaire had abandoned after the agreement was struck. Musk later confirmed that he had sent a letter reigniting the potential takeover.
Shares of TWTR, which were halted for a period during the middle of the day, eventually closed at $52. This represented a rally of $9.46 compared to the previous close.
This took the stock above a recent trading range and to its highest close since November. Shares remain off a 52-week high of $68.41 reached late last year. Musk's deal to acquire TWTR is valued at $54.20 per share.
Standout Decliner
Shares of KalVista (KALV) cratered almost 59% after the company was forced to end a clinical trial due to safety concerns.
KALV said it terminated a Phase 2 trial of its KVD824 product after elevated levels of a liver enzyme were detected. The oral drug was being tested as a preventative for hereditary angioedema attacks.
"We made the difficult decision to terminate [the trial] because we concluded that the emerging safety profile of the current formulation will not meet our requirements for a best-in-class oral prophylactic therapy," company CEO Andrew Crockett said.
Dragged down by the news, KALV plunged to an intraday 52-week low of $5.77. Shares trimmed those losses a bit by the close but still ended at $5.85, a drop of $8.39 on the day.
Shares had seen gains from June into September, with the stock recording a close of $16.83 on Sept. 1 -- its highest finish since March. Overall, the stock has fallen about 65% over the past 12 months.
Notable New High
First Solar (FSLR) added to the gains it has seen over the last few months. Helped by the overall market momentum, the stock climbed nearly 5%, reaching a new 52-week high.
FSLR finished the session at $143.06, an advance of $6.44 on the day. During trading, the stock reached a new 52-week high of $145.74.
Shares have climbed dramatically since July, with the stock recording a close of $65.27 on July 15. FSLR has rallied nearly 120% since that point. The stock has also come off a 52-week low of $59.60.
FSLR picked up steam in July as analysts spotlighted the stock as one of the beneficiaries of climate legislation.
For more on the day's biggest winners and losers, click over to Seeking Alpha's On The Move section.